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Jingshi Expressway
The Jingshi Expressway (京石高速公路, Hanyu Pinyin: Jīngshí Gāosù Gōnglù; or Jingshi Freeway, as it was formerly known) is an expressway in China which links Beijing to the Shijiazhuang. It is c. 270 km in length. Its road numbering is G030. It forms part of the Jingzhu Expressway (京珠高速公路). Opened in full in 1993, the expressway runs in a southwest direction, linking the capital of China with the capital of Hebei province. The Jingshi Expressway gets its name by the combination of two one-character Chinese abbreviations of both Beijing and Shijiazhuang (Beijing -- Jing, Shijiazhuang -- Shi). Route Beijing Section The expressway starts from Liuliqiao on the southwestern 3rd Ring Road, passes through the 4th Ring Road at Yuegezhuang, and then approaches a heavily industrialised area, the Xidaokou area near Shougang. On the way out of Beijing, one passes through the famous Luguoqiao area - home to the Marco Polo Bridge and Wanping, marking where the Sino-Japanese war began in 1937. The Dujiakan toll gate (for the Beijing stretch) follows after a bridge crossing what used to be a vast Yongding River (永定河). (Sadly, it has now apparently dried up.) After the toll gate, the expressway links to roads connecting to Fangshan and Liangxiang satellite town. A link to the 6th Ring Road opened on December 20, 2004. The expressway also links Beijing to the Zhoukoudian Peking Man cave, as well as Yunju Temple. The Beijing portion of the expressway ends after the Liulihe exit (Exit No. 18). Maps incorrectly point out that the final exit in the Beijing portion ends at Doudian (Exit No. 16 leaving Beijing, Exit No. 17 entering Beijing). Before the Beijing portion ends, a service area appears. A toll gate follows just outside of city/municipality limits. Hebei Section The Hebei portion of the expressway starts right before the Beijing South Toll Gate. As of the Hebei portion (strictly speaking, as of just before the Beijing portion ends), the expressway shrinks from 6 lanes (3 up, 3 down) to 4 lanes (2 up, 2 down). The large "lawn" in the middle of the expressway separate the two sets of carriageways going in different directions is no more as of the Hebei portion. For more information see: Expressways Wiki: Jingshi Expressway (to come soon) History thumb|320px|The Jingshi Expressway at [[Wanping Bridge. (Late autumn 2004 image)]] thumb|320px|The Jingshi Expressway before the 2005 roadworks and repair. ([[July 2004 image)]] Claimed as the first completed expressway in mainland China, construction began in April of 1986 and was completed in segments, culminating eventually in November of 1993, although the Beijing section was opened around the start of the 1990s. In early February 2004, a traffic accident occurred when a lorry driver, who was in the middle of repairing a tyre, was literally thrown into the middle of the road, as a result of a huge jet of air which came from the tyre change. The driver then was hit by an oncoming vehicle, causing a deadly casualty. By July 2004, the Beijing section was fully fitted with physical carriage separation facilities, making a U-turn on the expressway impossible. News from September 2004 spread that the central toll gate at Beijing South/Zhuozhou would soon be expanded to twenty lanes instead of the current ten lanes. The current central toll gate is often home to traffic jams, as its size is way too small. There will be a direct link to the expressway from Caihuying Bridge on the 2nd Ring Road through Fengbei Bridge. 2005 Roadworks In April 2005, massive roadworks which would last into 2006 began on the Jingshi Expressway. The main reason behind the roadworks: age. The Jingshi Expressway had archaic facilities which were incompatible with the Beijing of today. Most road facilities were too old, the road surface quality was deplorable, and the expressway showed every sign that major roadworks project was necessary. This was only natural for an expressway which was constructed as early as 1987. Within the 5th Ring Road The first stage involved roadworks from Liuliqiao (3rd Ring Road) through to Wanping (5th Ring Road). Roadworks are also present in the Xidaokou area, where several bridges are undergoing renovation or repairs. As a result, the Jingshi Expressway is closed to traffic daily from 22:00 until 6:00 (next day) from Yuegezhuang (western 4th Ring Road) through to Lugouqiao (western 5th Ring Road). Outside of the 5th Ring Road When the roadworks spread to the Dujiakan area, which housed the toll gate, the expressway temporarily suspended toll collection services. Roadworks have been completed in this area. Nevertheless, a huge traffic jam erupted on May 20, 2005, where traffic was stalled for 14 hours on end. http://cn.news.yahoo.com/050521/1308/2c1h7.html Roadworks continue from Zhaoxindian through to the end of the Beijing section. Vehicles heading out of Beijing, bound for Liangxiang and Daxing, must change to the right side of the expressway when it splits into two after Zhaoxindian. Dashihe Bridge in the Liuliqiao (Fangshan) area is currently under repairs. Traffic heading out of Beijing merges into two lanes. Traffic heading into Beijing must switch over to the western bridge; the eastern bridge is undergoing major repairs. Detours Massive traffic jams are expected. Recommended detours include: * Jingkai Expressway through to the 6th Ring Road; * China National Highway 107; * Jingzhou Road. .]] Signposts have been completely redone thanks to this expressway roadworks project. New signs appear in English and Simplified Chinese characters. Jingshi Oddities Nonstandards As one leaves Beijing on the expressway from the Southwestern 3rd Ring Road at Liuliqiao, one enters into what is apparantly one of the oldest expressways in the area. Road conditions reveal the age of expressway. Signs are nonstandard, exit numbering looks erratic, and often English is lacking on the road signs (in contrast to other expressways around Beijing). Arabic numbers on the signposts, more often than not, appear deformed or stretched. The fonts in English are another problem. Older signs have English/Pinyin in very small type, making them a real challenge to read. In any case, the signs appear way too old. The problems are being solved now, as most plates are being replaced with newer signs which have English letters in much more legible type. Emergency Services Except for a short part of the road from Dujiakan to Zhaoxindian, there is virtually no hard corner to speak of. Cars in need must be driven to the next emergency bay, of which are there are many along the way. Signpost Oddities * The exit number is shown at the bottom right hand corner of the exit sign, instead of being at the bottom left hand corner as is standard everywhere else on PRC expressways. * Road signs signalling the reduction of lanes use a previous, archaic and abandoned image. * Exit numbering is chaotic. Exits number 1 through 5 in the Beijing portion appear before the Dujiakan toll gate. After that, the numbering is instantly raised to exits number 10 through 18. Following a switch of jurisdiction to Hebei, the numbering is reset and recommences at zero. All other Chinese expressways use a numbering system which is uniform throughout the entire expressway and does not change or jump figures when toll gates, jurisdiction changes, etc... are passed through. * When entering the Hebei portion, the first exit to the TV and Cinema city is numbered zero. * Signs indicating the overtaking lane, the carriageways and the hard shoulder are completely in Chinese characters in the Beijing segment (except for one single sign on the way out of Beijing). However, modernised and newer signs do exist. The entire exit number 15 (with the 6th Ring Road) uses brand-new signs of the new standard that even indicate the level of the expressway and the expressway road numbering. The exit number is shown on the bottom left hand corner at this very exit. Road Conditions Speed Limit Beijing Section 80 km/h on the following stretches: Liuliqiao - Dujiakan 90 km/h on the following stretches: Dujiakan - Zhaoxindian 110 km/h on the remaining stretches. Speed checks are at: * Yuegezhuang Bridge * Dajing Bridge * Jingliang Bridge * km 35.5 Hebei Section Uniform maximum speed limit of 120 km/h. Tolls The section southwest of the SW 5th Ring Road (Beijing) charges tolls. There are toll gates at Dujiakan (Beijing), South Beijing, and at Shijiazhuang. For the expressway (apart from the 6th Ring Road), there is currently no networked toll system -- one pays upon entering a different jurisidiction. However, an IC-card system is, apparently, on the drawing board. Tolls are only networked with the 6th Ring Road in Beijing. Beijing Section CNY 0.33/km for small passenger vehicles. Dujiakan - Beijing South: CNY 15 Lanes Beijing Section 6 lanes (3 up, 3 down) uniformly. Exception: Dujiankan Toll Gate - Zhaoxindian has 4 lanes (2 up, 2 down). No emergency belt where there are 6 lanes. Hebei Section 4 lanes (2 up, 2 down), with emergency belt. Surface Conditions Conditions are mediocre to poor in some areas in the Beijing segment, but it gets better in the Hebei part. Before this was rectified in July of 2004, one of the oddest features of this expressway's Beijing segment was that, at times, there was no central physical structure -- not even a barrier -- to separate the carriageways running in opposite directions in the Beijing portion. (This made it potentially insecure in the case of a car crash from the carriageways running in the opposite direction, and made it possible to do a complete U-turn on the expressway -- something that's against the expressway management regulations.) Relief came by the end of July 2004, when the entire Beijing segment was fitted with a central barrier. Beijing Section Drivable; average at times. Hebei Section Good to fair. Traffic Good. Smooth and flowing. Major Exits Beijing Section 3rd Ring Road, 4th Ring Road, 5th Ring Road, Yancun, 6th Ring Road, Doudian Hebei Section Zhuozhou, Dingxing, Baoding, Shijiazhuang Service Areas Beijing Section A service area exists just before the end of the Beijing section (southern portion), between Doudian and Liulihe exits. Connections *'Ring Roads of Beijing': Connects with the SW 3rd Ring Road at Liuliqiao, the SW 4th Ring Road at Yuegezhuang, the SW 5th Ring Road at Wanping, and the SW 6th Ring Road at Liyuan Bridge. *'Baojin Expressway': Connects with the Baojin Expressway near Baoding (just north of it). *'Shitai Expressway': Connects with the Shitai Expressway to Taiyuan (Shanxi province) at Shijiazhuang (heading west). *'Shicang Expressway': Connects with the Shicang Expressway to Cangzhou (near the Bohai Gulf) at Shijiazhuang (heading east). *'Shian Expressway': Connects with the Shian Expressway to Anyang and Zhengzhou (Henan province) at Shijiazhuang (heading south). Exits Symbols: ↗ = exit (✕ = closed), ⇆ = main interchange; ¥ = central toll gate; S''' = service area Beijing → Shijiazhuang Beijing Municipality Image:1041 10.jpg|Sign for Exit No. 10 (Zhaoxindian) Image:1041 11.jpg|Exit No. 11 (Changyang) and Jingliang Bridge Image:1041 14.jpg|Exit No. 14 (Liangxiang) Hebei Province * '''¥ Beijing South Toll Gate * ↗ 0: TV and Film Centre * ↗ 1: Gu'an, Zhuozhou * S''' Zhuozhou * '''↗ 2: Tianjin, Gaobeidian * ↗ 3: Tianjin, Dingxing * ↗ 4: Tianjin, Xushui * ⇆''' (Interchange with Baojin Expressway) Baojin Expressway * '''S Service Area * ↗''' Baoding * '''↗ Baoding South * ↗''' Qingyuan * '''S Service Area * ↗''' Wangdu * '''↗ Dingzhou * ↗''' Xinle * '''↗ Shijiazhuang Airport * ↗''' Zhengding * '''⇆ Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang → Beijing Beijing Municipality Image:1041 17.jpg|Exit No. 17 (Doudian) Image:1041 15.jpg|Exit No. 15 (6th Ring Road) Image:1041 10(B).jpg|Exit No. 10 (Changxindian) Image:1041 3.jpg|Exit No. 3 (old sign)